No. 17 Hogs open with home meet

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – No. 17 Arkansas Razorback women’s track and field will open the 2010 indoor season with the hosting of the Arkansas Invitational on Fri., Jan. 8.

Oklahoma and Ole Miss will be competing with the Hogs at the Randal Tyson Track Center on Friday. Field events will begin at 1 p.m., running prelims at 3 p.m. and running finals at 5 p.m. Live results can be found at ArkansasRazorbacks.com. A complete meet recap will be available shortly after the final event.

Friday’s meet will mark the start of head coach Lance Harter’s 20th season with Arkansas. Harter, with assistant coaches Rolando Greene and Bryan Compton, welcome back five All-Americans (junior Tara Diebold, sophomore Whitney Jones, senior Katie Stripling, senior Karen Thomas and junior Shelise Williams) and 17 letterwinners for the 2010 season. Joining the squad will be 11 newcomers.

The Razorbacks are seated at No. 17 and are one of five SEC schools in the preseason poll. The LSU Tigers are No. 3, the Florida Gators rank sixth, the South Carolina Gamecocks are seventh and the Tennessee Lady Vols are No. 12.

Edina Brooks, Stephanie Brown, Regina George, Kristen Gillespie, Lauren Kegley, Caroline McCombs, Leah Orley, Shantel Thompson and Rachel Werner are expected to make their Arkansas debuts on the track on Friday.

Arkansas’ 2010 roster boasts six talented student-athletes from the Natural State in sophomore Courtney Blair (Texarkana), Jones (Searcy), redshirt freshman Lauren Kegley, Stripling (Jonesboro), Thomas (Camden) and senior Ashley Williams (Little Rock).

Similar to past seasons, Arkansas will host a bevy of home meets at the Randal Tyson Track Center. The Arkansas Invitational, Razorback Invitational, Tyson Invitational, SEC Championships, Arkansas Last Chance and NCAA Championships are on the 2010 slate. Arkansas will travel in January for the Virginia Tech Invitational and the Texas A&M Challenge. February will hold a trip to New York for the New Balance Collegiate Invitational.

For more information, visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com.

Download: 1.8.10 Ark Inv.pdf